Look Don't Touch
by curry-llama
Summary: One-Shot. Danny finds himself in Arkham, disillusioned with humanity. It takes time and a group of heroes to show him that there still is good in the world. Warning, this is M for a reason. Mentions/descriptions of rape, torture and minor swearing.


Look Don't Touch

This story is a really, really long one shot. XD

Warning: Graphic description of Rape/Non-con. Minor Swearing. Minor descriptions of gore.

I wouldn't suggest anyone under the age of 16 should read this story but I highly doubt a lot of kids would even listen to these warnings anyway. I just want to get out that this isn't a slash fic. Danny is not gay but there is gay rape. No pairings involved.

* * *

He didn't know when it had happened but he snapped. His mind had gone awry and his body had moved on its own in a fit of self-preservation. In a minute he had snapped their necks so easily it had not even yet registered in his mind that he had taken the action. His body hurt, like it always did, in a state of throbbing, agonising pain that he simply could not get rid of. That pain numbed instantly when he came back to his senses, the image of his once parents on the floor, necks twisted in odd angles, mouths dripping saliva wildly like he had so many times under their mercy.

He had slumped down, his body shutting down for who knows how long, and just sat there. His parent's dead bodies lay next to him but he could only look forward blankly. His mind went numb despite the desperate clawing pain in the foreground screaming to come forward. He vaguely knew he should be feeling pain, a sense of loss at least, or even the cold from his core but there was nothing.

For three days he simply sat there, eyes wide, unmoving despite the stench of rotting bodies, until the door opened revealing men. It was almost like he was watching detached from his body, like a spirit guarding its corpse, but the moment an officer touched his arm he was right back in his body. His world flared with pain and fear again and he thrashed and struggled under the man's grip.

"The kid's crazy! I need help!"

He didn't stop, reminded of the presence of hands ghosting over his skin, scalpels, and machines sucking at his core, slowly breaking it. _Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster._

It rang through his head, sending a pain that coursed deeper than one of a physical infliction but was agonisingly aching nonetheless. He didn't want to be touched. Not again. Not ever again. He tried transforming, to fly away, he didn't even need a destination as long as it was somewhere he was alone. He could not do it. He reached for his inner most being, his core, and he found nothing. He screamed in fear, in loss and the men didn't stop. Their hands kept grabbing him, pushing him where he didn't want to go, like his desires had no meaning, like he was only a thing. He struggled against it but there was no core anymore. He had killed instead of protected, he had broken himself.

He was moved, people kept touching him, questioning him and every time they did a bit of his senses came back to him. He felt the fear, the pain, the sorrow of what he had done and of what had been done to him. He would never have his family back again and he had no proof to claim what he had done was in self-defence. His body was unmarred, his ghostly half mending any incisions, any scars and forever concealing any proof he had for his freedom. People called him a monster; after all what good child would kill their parents?

"I had to," he pleaded.

"There was no sign of abuse Daniel. You must have a mental illness."

"I don't! You have to believe me they- they cut me open!" he screamed at his lawyer but the moment the man went to pat his shoulder he flinched violently. "Don't touch me!"

"Daniel, it must have been hallucinations. Unfortunately I can't do anything for you without proof that you've been hurt. You'll end up in prison with medication to bring you back to your senses."

"No! Don't leave! You have to believe me! You have to!"

The man left and the trial was done. He read the newspaper the next day and cried. His parents had hurt him and when they messed with his core to turn him back into a human his ghostly instincts moved to protect him… nothing more but how could he prove that? He couldn't. He wished Jazz was there but he knew it was too late for her, for him, for anyone to do anything. His mind went numb again, left alone in the confines of his waiting cell until the next man touched him. He screamed and thrashed but no one listened. No one cared about what he had to say… that he would have simply followed if they had stopped _touching_ him.

He was moved into a cell. It was white and there was a simple bed in the corner with a few art supplies. He stopped fighting as he sat down and stared blankly at the white walls. He could deal with this. There was no one here to touch him, no one here to frighten him… oh how wrong he was. He was given a day's respite and a man came in. He was not a cop Danny realised. This man was wearing white and holding a tray of food. He froze and backed away when a second man came.

"Look here fresh meat."

"What did this one do? He's on the young side."

"Bastard snapped his parent's necks in half but he's still a cutie. Why are all the crazy ones hot?"

"Doesn't matter, it means we can have some fun."

He looked at the men in dawning horror. They wouldn't… they couldn't. His breath picked up when the dropped the tray of food in the corner and moved to him with hungry smiles. He jumped of his bed and made a leeway for the door but one of the men grabbed his hands and jerked him back on the bed.

"Please, don't touch me! Don't touch me! No, stop!"

The men had begun taking of his meagre prison garb. He screamed and thrashed but they didn't care, they just took what they wanted… like his parents. He tried reaching for his core, and begged for it to release so he could get out but it was still broken. They had left him naked and it frightened him. Their hands touched the skin where his parents had cut through and he shivered violently, protesting under their combined weight but unable to do anything in his fragile human form.

"Please stop! Someone help! Sto-"

He gagged as they stuffed his underwear into his mouth. The men laughed and kept touching him despite his protests. Danny wanted to disappear. His chest burnt in agony as memories picked up with the combined horror of what was going to happen to him. He clawed at the bed sheets but the men kept touching him. A hand moved down to his hole and pushed a finger in.

"This one's tight."

"Finally he's stopped screaming although it's a pity we can't hear him moan."

"He's not going to be moaning the first time around idiot. I'll make sure to go slow but it'll still hurt. That's the best a parent-killer can get."

He tuned out the conversation as the men kept touching him like it was normal. His body shivered but he could not do anything, his limbs felt like led although sparks of painful electricity coursed through them warning him of the danger. Something thick poked at his anal hole and he screamed as it entered, tearing skin and ripping his insides open. He was once again reminded of the foreign object _inside_ of him when it pushed back out and back in. His stomach churned in disgust as he screamed in disgust, muffled by the cloth in his mouth.

"Take it off. I want to hear him."

The gag was pulled out from his mouth and he screamed, cried and thrashed but nothing worked. His core wasn't throbbing for release like it once had when he could transform. His body had been marred, tainted, touched and he wanted it to stop but they wouldn't. His disgust only rose when another member flicked at his face. He eyed the appendage in horror, the pain from behind only seeming to increase his heart rate. The man in front opened his mouth wide and stuck in his penis. Danny gagged around the disgusting cock and cried out in muffled agony again.

"You even think of biting and I'll make sure the other inmates will join in on this treatment."

His world broke again. They were violating whatever space he had left that had not been cut open, prodded and destroyed. They were taking it away from him and he couldn't say no, he couldn't refuse. He had lost all control.

When they had gone they had not truly, not in any sense. They left a part of them inside of him that constantly sent shivers of disgust and pain through his mind. He threw up whatever meagre contents were in his stomach and couldn't even look at the food although a doctor had come in later and force-fed him his pills. He curled into the corner staring blankly at the white wall, tears unable to come out, left only with self-loathing and anger. Why had he thought he could do good? Do good and good would follow… that wasn't real. That was a lie. Jazz had died and she had done only good. He had everything taken from him and he had tried to be good. He had tried… but he failed.

When he was allowed to shower he didn't mind. He scrubbed at his body with renewed vigour and the men around him didn't come up in his thoughts. They were there, an ever present threat, but they had not touched him. They looked but did not touch. Danny could handle that. He didn't pay them mind, his body was still aching, the come still left behind that he was scrubbing off but his expression remained blank. He hurt inside, his pain, his disgust, his agony had been expressed and no one had listened so it was pointless to express anymore. He simply kept scrubbing until his skin was red and raw. He felt disappointment when the shower time was over and he was taken back to the room. He went back to his corner.

Numbed by the white

* * *

Batman knew that he needed protection right now. These threats weren't major but they posed enough of a problem that they required attention. He had dealt with one particular menace before but Gentleman ghost was hardly like the ones rising to the foreground in Villainy. These ghosts were inexplicably in the realm of science rather than magic and despite that magic users were the only ones capable of combating them. He had heard of ghost-hunters in the past but they were a laughable branch of science although it was beginning to seem contrary.

"What'cha looking through?" Dick asked as he swivelled in his chair.

"A rising threat. We need ways to combat ghosts."

"Ghosts? Seriously? I'm whelmed," Robin laughed as he moved to the screen in peaked interest.

"They are to be taken seriously. Their base powers include flight, invisibility, intangibility, possession and power beams and they all have individual specialities. If there is a whole dimension full of these beings then we need to take precaution."

"That is pretty scary," Dick agreed. "So where're you going to go?"

"Madeline and Jack Fenton"

"And they are?"

"Dead"

Dick gave his mentor a dead-pan look that said he wasn't impressed. Bruce always had a way of making people keep asking him questions only to get more back. It was fine if you only had to deal with it once in a while but he practically lived with the man and it was intolerable.

"And?"

"The schematics of their weapons don't hold the full model. Whatever it may be, they had taken precautions and left out certain features so it wouldn't be replicable. Unfortunately they're dead, murdered more precisely, by their son Daniel James Fenton."

Dick perked up in anger. "Their own kid killed them?"

"Yes, I would have investigated his case considering it could have easily been a ghost who possessed him at the time of murder but by the time he confessed to the murder, claiming his parents had experimented on him."

"What if he isn't lying?"

"There is a chance but it's unlikely. There were no signs of inflicted wounds. His skin was unmarred. He is currently in the Civilian Arkham Mental Ward."

"That place that specialises for criminally insane crack-pots," Dick asked with concern. "It's not exactly the best mental-health facility."

"Normal wards would not accept his violent tendencies," Bruce replied with a small frown.

He didn't know what to think of the scenario. On one hand he found it utterly sickening that someone should kill their parents when he had his so mercilessly taken away, but on another more rational side he didn't want to judge, at least not when he had no concrete story to go off.

"You still didn't tell me what you're going to do. Are you going to try and figure out their blue-prints yourself or are you going to pay the kid a visit?"

"No, I will try to figure it out myself. If there is no other way I'll pay Arkham a visit."

* * *

Time passed slowly. He knew it had been two months but it felt like an eternity. He had taken up the time drawing. There were pictures on the floor everywhere. He looked blankly at them with distaste. He had stopped being able to feel numb and he hated it. Every time they held him down and had their way with him it left a feeling of their hands all over him, _touching_ him. He hated it. He hated it. He hated it.

He hated everything. No one would listen to him. They kept giving him medicine that forced him out of his numbed state. They forced him to be hyper-aware of his pain all the time. He wanted to starve away but his body wouldn't allow him to even do that. The sight of food, always in the corner, waiting for him made his will break. There were no sharp objects he could use to kill himself. He was forced, against his will to remain forever in this nightmare.

He had ripped the pictures down, they had been of ghosts he knew, of people he had seen on the occasion, all of them in a state of death but it was serene. He could not bring himself to draw his form like that. In all of his pictures he was alive but his face was blank and there was no emotion in them. He just wanted this to end. He hated them but he had no power to stop them. He wanted to crack their necks like he had done to his parent's but he didn't have the strength. His ghostly half would not come as long as they weren't trying to truly kill him.

His thoughts were broken as his prison door opened. He flinched back instinctively, his mind wondering why the men hadn't come in their allocated time to rape and torture him. The suddenness of the situation made him bristle in fear but it soon turned to confusion when Batman stepped into the room. His face remained blank, ever the same but his insides protested in confusion. This was a hero and a hero he had looked up to but Danny had lost faith in humanity. He wasn't so sure this hero was better than anyone else anymore.

Silence permeated the room. Batman usually waited for the other to speak so he could control the conversation but the boy didn't make a move to speak and he was a busy man. It unnerved him, the way those glossy blue eyes bore deep into him, unblinking but holding an icy form of emotion behind the dullness.

"Do you know how to create your parent's inventions?"

It was straight to the point and he was at the far end of the room. Danny didn't mind that. As long as the man kept his distance and didn't touch him he could tolerate his presence. Still a part of him was angry at the man. He hadn't come here to save him like a hero should have but to demand more from him like everyone else. He had once believed in heroism but not anymore. No hero would save him. He had to save himself and anywhere was better than here. He wanted control of his life again.

"Yes"

"I need your help in recreating them"

"No"

Batman wasn't startled by the dismissal but he was by the growing smile on the boy's normally distant face. It was a demented smile but it was emotion nonetheless. Somehow it seemed more foreign than detachment on the soft boyish features. Danny was gleaming joy from the simple word. He had refused. He had control of what he would and would not do. He wanted to keep that power.

"It's a matter of national security."

"I will not help you unless you guarantee that I will be freed from this place," Danny replied quickly, eyes furrowed in determination.

There was a long silence. Bruce did not want to give into claims from murderers but he needed the anti-ghost weapons. He vaguely remembered that there had been a government branch with the technology but they had been dismantled after killing civilians. The only other person with ghost weaponry that was specified was Madeline and Jack Fenton. He needed the full schematics and he knew if he wanted them that he would have to give in.

"You will be under house-arrest and a hero will always be on watch-duty."

Danny's smile turned into a frown and he shook his head. This was not what he wanted. He needed to play it right so that he could leave this place but at the same time he needed his freedom. He would not be under someone else's mercy.

"Complete freedom or nothing," he growled.

"I cannot do that. Even the Justice League operates under the law. Either you take my offer or you stay here."

Bruce had not expected the look of utter fear to take the boy's passive features. For a second he was reminded of how young the boy was. He had to be no more than 17 and yet here he was stuck in a cell by himself with no way out and no prison inmates to keep him company. The isolation must have been a torture in itself and yet he knew there was more to it than that. Something more was happening.

"Fine, but no one touches me," the boy said, his face going back to the cold emotionless look.

"As long as you don't try to run or harm anyone I can promise that."

* * *

Danny sent the two guards who were in charge of him a murderous look. He would kill them later for what they had done. He didn't need powers. Now that he was free he would track them down and murder them himself. The look had not been missed by the Dark Knight apparently as the hero frowned and gestured for him to move forward. He was grateful that at least the hero was remaining true to his promise and not touching him. He kept a respectful distance which Danny didn't feel threatened by. It was only until they reached the hero's vehicle that he began feeling uncomfortable. The seats were too close together and when Batman had held out a bag his heart skipped a beat in fear.

"Put it over your head."

 _His eyes were blinded as the men's hands moved over his skin, violating him, touching him. He felt sick all over again but he bit down his bile. If he vomited they would beat him later and they knew he healed quickly so he could tell no one. He had to suffer through it. He bit his lips and made no move to cry out in pain as the man entered him._

" _This is no fun. He's staring blankly at the wall again. I don't want to see his face anymore."_

 _A shirt was thrown over his face as it was tightened behind his head. Danny began struggling again in his world of darkness. He couldn't see anything and it scared him even more. He didn't know what they were going to do next. Their hands moved to his body in a vile interpretation of love as they violated him in ways no one else could. He was beginning to breathe hard, the shirt around his face not allowing air to come through and he was suffocating. Suffocating as they touched him and raped him and took away every ounce of his control. His mind went dizzy through the lack of oxygen and he went unconscious._

Bruce looked at the hyper-ventilating boy and found himself at loss. This was the reaction of someone who had been through something traumatic. The mask he gave everyone when they got into his car was what had triggered it. He went to pat the boy's back like he did with Dick when he went through stress but remembered his deal. Batman did not break deals.

"Calm down. Take deep breathes. I'm not going to hurt you."

Danny snapped. "Don't tell me what to do! I'm fine," he said through pants as he regained his composure. He defiantly looked at the piece of cloth, grabbed it roughly and pulled it over his head. Batman wasn't doing this to him. He was doing it out of his own free-will.

Bruce was having a hard time figuring out how to deal with the teen-murderer. They boy was obviously traumatised and bitter but he didn't know enough about what happened to really help and a part of the deal was never to touch him. He never broke his promises but he had come close to by accident and they hadn't been together for nearly an hour yet. There weren't also a lot of places he could keep a teen in need of constant super-hero surveillance. His cave was out of bounds, the Watch Tower was not a place the boy and so he was left with the Young Justice team.

The two hour drive had been silent with no one making a move to speak. Once he reached Mount Justice he signalled for the boy to take off the cloth. The teen took off the mask and stepped out gratefully to find himself inside a wide ceiling cave like building. He was led into a large room before Batman really turned to him.

"You'll be staying here. If you want to go outside you will do so under the supervision of a hero. There are surveillance cameras so don't think you can run off. I will debrief the team on the nature of your stay. Break any of these rules and you will be back in Arkham."

Danny didn't give the man a response, just blankly went to sit on one of the couches in the large living room setting. He was no stranger to waiting in silence and the lack of anything to do hardy fazed him. Any other teenager his age would have run around the cave by now but he wasn't one of them. He had faced isolation in a lab for far longer than anyone before he was left in a prison cell for two months with hardly any friendly contact. He would not give into anyone, hero or not. He would find a way to get his ghost half back and when he did everyone who hurt him would pay.

"This is him. He doesn't look like much."

Danny looked up to see a boy in yellow and red speed through the room. He instantly recognised him as Kid Flash before he noticed a plethora of other kid rip-offs of the Leaguers walk in. They all looked at him with a varying amount of confusion and distrust. He shrugged off the looks instantly. He could care less what a bunch of hero brats thought of him.

"You are not permitted to touch him however he will not be left alone unless you are on a mission. I will acquire the resources he needs in his lab. Miss Martian will show him to his work space."

With that Batman had gone. Danny watched the man leave, a blank look on his face, but his chest burning in anxiety. He looked at the young heroes and glanced them over before feeling a pang of anger surged through him. They were what he had been, young, trusting and full of wonder. They had not seen the world like he had. They were misguided into believing that doing good was right.

Megan had felt something off with the boy, like a part of him had literally been shattered, and it made her skin crawl in worry. His face was blank, like it held no emotion, but she felt the hate, the anger and the pain behind those unblinking milky eyes and she knew there was more to his story. She wanted to help him but Batman had specifically told her to keep her distance both physically and mentally with the boy. She was beginning to understand why.

"My name is Megan but my hero name is Miss Martian. This is Kid Flash, Super-boy, Aqualad and-"

"Robin," the boy wonder interrupted.

"Danny," the boy replied before going completely silent.

The team who had expected some form of conversation, even one that resembled a villain's, did not expect this. They had fallen into an awkward silence until Megan decided that they needed to continue. She could feel the boy's discomfort and decided that a private tour would be better.

"How about I show Danny around by myself? Come on."

Danny followed after the alien with quiet interest. He had once been enamoured by the stars, what was beyond it and the alien life forms that inhabited the vast universe. His old self would have been more than inclined to jump at the opportunity of talking to a Martian but he had lost that childish part of himself that held wonder.

The rest of the team were left in the lounge room with nothing but their thoughts. They had been briefed on Danny's situation and the idea that they had a murderer in their base of operations was disconcerting in itself. Batman had informed them to keep an open mind as the teen's case was anything but concrete and that there was something more to it he'd have to research into. They didn't want to jump to conclusions but after talking to him they were met with the face of someone cold to the world.

"Are we really going to let someone who murdered their _parents_ into our base of operations?" Wally finally voiced.

"There's something more to his case like Batman said remember," Robin reminded.

"I don't care as long as he leaves me alone," Superboy grunted as he left the room.

Kaldur sighed and decided that he'd have to check with Batman on the details later. As much as he wanted to trust Danny he could not, in good conscience, put trust over protecting his team. Robin was thinking along the same lines. There was something off about the boy and he knew it from his many encounters with kids on the streets and men who lived hard lives. This was the face of someone completely out of touch with any form of hope.

* * *

"This is the games room," Megan said cheerfully as she showed the teen around.

Danny grunted in irritation. "I don't care. Show me the important rooms and leave me alone."

Megan frowned but nodded her ok. Normally anyone would have been angry at such rude behaviour but she, unlike many Earthlings, was capable of reading feelings and she knew the intricacies of it. Anger came in many types. There was rage and then there was a bitter sort of anger. Danny was surrounded by bitterness and anger and distrust. She did not read his memories, heeding Batman's orders, but she knew enough to know someone had done something horrible to him to have broken his trust. She didn't judge. She had dealt with Superboy's anger and she would deal with Danny's.

She led him to his room in the middle of the hallway and opened the door for him. He entered slowly and she couldn't help but notice the slightly alarmed expression and the shiver that ran down his spine. She had heard the news. He had claimed to have been experimented on but no one believed him. His mannerisms, everything he said and did, pointed that it was highly likely it did happen but at the same time they had looked over his body and found nothing to suggest the abuse.

"Leave me alone," he screamed as he waved at the air.

Megan knew he wasn't talking to her. He was swatting the air like it was trying to attack him and she knew instantly that he was hallucinating. In sudden worry she moved to comfort him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. It was swiftly thrown off with a murderous look from the teen. The sheer emotion she felt from the touch had her seeing parts of his memory and she gasped as she backed off. Tears spilt from her eyes as she, for a split second, shared in his agony. She saw glimpses of hands, the feeling of complete violation and terror as he had spiralled out of control.

" **Don't touch me!"**

Megan promptly had the door shut on her face. She blinked as she realised what she had just done. She quickly wiped the tears away and took control of her trembling limbs. This had been what he was feeling… she knew now why he was so bitter. Pain and loss of control like that would drive any man insane. She moved to her room. She needed time to think.

* * *

Batman finally began looking into Daniel Fenton's case. There were missing factors to the case and he wondered for a second if Daniel's claims of having been experimented on were real. His investigations took him to the Fenton house again. It had been searched for any form of evidence to Daniel's claims but none were found. There had been files on the ghost boy, Phantom, but that and a few other experiments on ghosts were the only things that the detectives had managed to find. There was nothing to suggest that Danny had been experimented on.

He frowned, wondering what missing piece he had missed. He looked at Phantom's case and went through the experiment files. He was sickened by the procedures done. A year and they had electrocuted him, destabilised his ectoplasmic form, set him on fire, cut him open and studied his core and done so many things Bruce was sickened by. For a brief second he understood why Daniel wanted to kill people like them.

His search resumed on the Phantom. There had to be a connection with Danny and Phantom. The boy had claimed everything that happened to the ghost happened to him, even going so far as to say they were the same person. Of course no one believed him when he couldn't prove his statement. Bruce knew there had to be another reason why Danny couldn't prove it. All evidence was pointing at the fact that Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom. They had appeared around the same time and he didn't need glasses to see that the two figures had the same features set in different colours. He didn't want to believe it though. The idea that a child's own parents conducted inhumane experiments on him to the point where he snapped didn't sit well with Bruce. It was much easier to pretend that they weren't the same person.

The next line of investigation went into Arkham. It was much easier to find evidence of malpractice here. The two or so hours the care-takers were allowed into Danny's room was conveniently wiped off. Judging from the teen's desperation to be anywhere but there, Bruce already conducted that the care-takers were abusing their duty of care in some way. A few unsavoury scenarios came to mind but he would directly confirm them with the teen later to make sure he wasn't just assuming anything.

* * *

It was surprisingly refreshing creating the ecto-weapons that were once used on him. He had the power to create it, to make it faulty, to set it to self-destruct at his command, or even to just make it plain dangerous to humans but he also had the choice to not do so. When he worked with it he took the time to start planning a program that ignored his ecto-signature and shut down when aimed at him. He wouldn't willingly give anyone another weapon to hurt him with, even if they were supposedly heroes. He didn't trust them… not yet and maybe not ever.

It had been a week and the super-kids generally left him alone. He didn't want to have the Junior Justice Brats breathe down his neck anyway so it was a nice change. Megan only ever occasionally dropped by to give him some essentials like food, water and clothes. He simply stayed in his room, working with his equations and working his way through his parent's insanely complicated schematics. The work took his mind off other things, like the hands he still felt all over his body, the ache in chest from the loss of his core, and the general pang of loneliness. Despite the seclusion he knew he preferred it to the heart-break that would inevitably happen were he to get close to them.

… So it came as an annoyance when they forgot to bring food to his room. He grovelled at the door for a long few hours, moving his hands to the knob before pacing back and forth, hesitating, and scolding himself for doing that. The sounds of loud chatter and laughter made him even more reluctant to go out and face them. He didn't want to be in the company of so many people like nothing had happened. He didn't want their dirty hands on him. He shivered at the thought of being even more violated than he already was but reminded himself that they wouldn't touch him. They had made a deal and if they did touch him he would sabotage all of the blue-prints he promised.

He couldn't admit defeat by simply shutting himself away. He needed food and he would get it even if it meant putting himself awkwardly in the middle of a group he would have fit right in not two years ago. So he shakily opened the door, peaked out, and steeled himself with a scowl. He made his way to the general living room and paused when he found the whole team sitting around with party food. Now he felt even more reluctant to get food. The party seemed almost over so the guilt faded away just as quickly. Making himself scares he moved toward the food, away from everyone and got himself a plate.

"Danny!"

A scowl instantly made its way across his face as his heart skipped a beat. He turned around to see Megan smiling brightly at him like it was Christmas. He didn't know why she was so happy to see him. Usually when people smiled it meant they wanted something from him that he didn't want to give. His distrustful gaze seemed to startle her which confused him. Megan, unlike most people he met, gave out her heart in her expressions. Danny found that it eased her a little more to him than most people but he still questioned whether it was a well-crafted act.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.

"I-I was just happy you decided to come out. It isn't healthy to be in your room all-day you know."

He didn't know what to say to that. He looked at her and then back at his plate of food distractedly. She seemed genuine, almost like his sister, and he wanted to believe for a second that she was. Brief flashes of people touching him, his parents cutting him, burning him with laughs and cold unmoving gazes shot him back to his previous thoughts. Megan's smile was genuine but was it really? Danny couldn't tell anymore and the very thought that he had hope to reconnect with someone in a meaningful way made his heart skip a beat- in a good way. Some part of him wanted that joy again but another craved for isolation. She looked genuine… so he would test it.

"I'm going back. I only came for the food."

"Oh," she said with a distraught expression.

He blinked at her genuinely sad expression, almost like he had kicked her, or killed her puppy. Why was she so sad over something as meaningless as him wanting to be alone? She could have only had such an expression if she had really wanted him to be here in the first place. What Danny could not understand was why? She didn't know him. He made no effort to connect with her and yet she was always being so nice, giving him food in his room, keeping a comfortable distance although he had seen her hugging others constantly, and even washing his clothes for him. His thoughts were bought back to her when her sad expression turned happy.

"Well you know we have some cake, so maybe you can eat here and then have the cake later."

Danny paused. He hadn't eaten cake in years and he loved cake but he still wanted to test Megan. If she demanded for him to stay, if she touched him, then he would know her true intentions.

"I don't want to"

"That's okay, just take your time"

He looked at her with wide eyes before feeling something warm flutter in his chest. She was beautiful. Not in a way that he had looked at many girls in the past, not by far. He wasn't even noticing the attractive angle of her cheeks, her otherwise cute freckles despite her green skin, and her generally curvy figure, no, they didn't even compare to the real beauty. She was dazzling in a way that the most physically attractive person in the whole world could not compare. She exuded a warmth that he had thought he almost lost, the warmth he had oh so taken for granted with his sister.

"Actually… I'll stay for the cake."

"That's great!" she exclaimed.

Robin had made his way towards the duo during the chat and noticed something odd. Danny, the normally scowling, distant figure, was looking at Megan like she was the most amazing thing in the world. It intrigued him as to what the Martian had done to get his trust. He wasn't so keen on making friends with someone who had murdered their parents when he still wished he had his, but after getting the full details from Batman on what he had so far on the case, he felt a pang of sympathy for the once hero. He wanted to get close, or at least be on working conditions with the moody teen, but he hadn't had the time to do so with missions both in and out of the team.

"Hey, what's up Danny?"

"Nothing," he growled.

"Wow, no need to get aggressive. Do you want cake?"

"…yes…"

Danny practically snatched the plate of Robin's hand as he shovelled in the cake hungrily. Robin and Megan watched the childish display with surprise. They had never before seen anything on the teen's face other than anger, distrust or pain and the occasional sarcastic laugh but to see him so thoroughly enjoying something was new.

"You like the cake? I made it," Megan said with a smile.

"It's great!" Danny practically yelled before he realised what he had done and toned it back down to a slower pace.

"What's your favourite flavour?" Robin asked.

"… I'm not picky"

He was beginning to feel weird. He hadn't talked to anyone like this in ages. They weren't raping him, dissecting him, or even interrogating him about work… this was about a mundane topic. It felt odd and he knew it was wrong that it was odd in the first place. It should have been normal, something everyone did on a daily basis, but it wasn't. He… liked it? He didn't know. It was different and while the foreign nature of the situation sent warning bells in his head, it also made him comfortable. There wasn't any danger in talking about ice-cream.

"Danny, you know you are free to come and eat meals in the kitchen. Me and Super-boy live here so we'll always have a meal out."

After scanning the room and noticing the odd glances thrown his way by the heroes he felt a little nervous. He trusted Megan but that was it. Megan was safe but was Super-boy? Was any of them? He knew what Megan was trying to do. She was trying to get him to open up but he didn't want to. Maybe she was the last person in the world he would allow himself to open up to but if it came with the added condition of the rest of the team he would refuse. Still her hopeful expression and genuine worry made his heart twist in guilt. He couldn't continue with his horrible attitude towards her even if he forgot how to be polite.

"Fine… but only if you're around," he conceded.

"That's settled then!"

Thankfully the young heroes didn't ask him many questions after that awkward chat. He hovered around the cake hungrily alongside Kid Flash who seemed to love it just as much as him. The speedster did try to spark a conversation but with his mouth stuffed like a chipmunk, and Danny's respectively, both couldn't bring out anything but muffled syllables, although in Danny's case he didn't even try. The party ended quickly with everyone wishing Wally a happy birthday before some members decided to leave.

"You guys are the best!" he yelled at them as they left.

"Too much sugar," Super-boy grunted as he looked at Wally's hyperactive nature, and he handed Megan the plates.

"It must have been the cake," she said before her attention turned to Danny who was still eating some.

"It's nice," the teen simply replied with a shrug as he scooped in another mouthful.

Danny didn't want to admit it but he was probably just as jittery as Kid-Flash now. He didn't particularly like the idea of being in such a hyper state next to anyone. It reminded him of the time his parents shot pure ectoplasm into his core and he had been awake for a whole week strapped to a table, no way of moving or doing anything while he was so hyper-aware. That was an unpleasant experience.

* * *

This was not a conversation. This was an interrogation. Danny didn't like it, although he suspected Batman knew the details by now anyway. He couldn't understand why the man hadn't just decided it was enough that he had to break whatever privacy he had but also had to come and make him confess.

"What did they do to you?"

"You've been asking that question a lot. Like I said my parent's experimented on me and those imbeciles at Arkham drugged my senses to hyper-awareness. It's much better now that I don't have to take it."

Batman sighed but otherwise made no move to show his frustration. The teen was a bottled up canister of abuse and anger. There needed to be some way for the boy to let it out or it would be unhealthy. He wasn't exactly comforting material either. This was a job for Canary but he still needed the boy's word so he could bring them to justice.

"The cameras blanked during the two or so hours your care taker's entered your room. I suspect you have been raped and I need your word before I prosecute."

Danny bristled in anger, face growing hot. He stood up from his seat, his previously bored look turning lethal. Bruce noticed the teen's eyes flashing green before it died down just as quickly to a haunted expression.

"Don't say it," he growled. "I don't want to hear anymore. Nothing happened there that concerns you. They do not need to be brought to 'justice' by you or those phoney heroes unless you intend to _castrate_ them, but I want the pleasure to do that myself!"

Yup- he needed counselling. Batman was used to righteous anger, the occasional murderous rage, but he was not used to dealing with people with so much malice in their intentions. This was the look of a person who didn't just want to kill but to torture before doing so. He couldn't let the boy go and do something he'd regret.

"You will be reporting to Black Canary in 2 hours."

"You have no right!" Danny screamed in rage.

"You will do as you're told."

Danny stilled in shock before a sneer crossed his face. All heroes were the same, conceited, domineering, abusing their powers to get their way. They were no worse than the villains and Batman was included. He hated all of them, thinking they could control him, that they could tell him what to do like he was a dog.

"She will be able to help"

The softness in the usually gruff voice caught the teen off-guard. It reminded him of his mother before she tried to 'bring her son back', when she was stern but cared for him nonetheless. Danny's anger dissipated but was left by a bitter feeling. Batman wasn't his mom, his mom had betrayed him, and in that sense Batman would too sooner or later. It was only a matter of time when he finished organising what the man needed before he was thrown out like a used rag. They were like everyone else using him for their purposes except they coated it with sugary words and concerned expressions. They pretended to respect him but once he wasn't useful anymore they would show their true colours and on that day he would be prepared.

He didn't move from his work bench for the next two hours, opting instead to recalibrate the wiring so it wouldn't be lethal to ghosts. Ghosts were dangerous of course but they didn't deserve to be ended, at least not the way he knew a few humans deserved. Apparently despite his blatant ignoring of Batman's orders, Canary decided to see him anyway. The therapy session just happened to be in his work space instead of her office.

"How are you Danny?"

"I'm fine," he grunted.

"Just fine? I've heard what happened. You need to talk about it, its unhealthy."

"I don't need your pretty words and faux gestures Canary," he growled, standing up. "You, the League and Batman, all just want me to fall in line like the rest of those petty civilian ants. I'm not buying it. I know your game. You talk with sweet words and then you wrap those weaker around your pretty little fingers with false gestures of heroism. Heroes don't exist. You're all criminals whether you see it or not."

Canary didn't interrupt the rant. She had dealt with anger and reluctant patients enough times to know how to deal with them. Danny was a little more disillusioned with the world than most but she didn't want to change that. His experiences made him, him, but his perspective on those experiences needed to change. This path was not a healthy one.

"Why do you believe that?"

"I've always saved myself. I don't need others to start any time soon."

"Is that why you've chosen to become distant, to not allow anyone close?"

"… You're trying to get me to open up. Not happening."

"Whether you believe it or not Danny, I'm trying to help. Keeping your feelings in and bottling up your anger is not healthy. You need to channel it somewhere."

"Oh I intend to," he replied darkly. "Once this little project Batman has me doing is over I'll see what your 'heroes' are going to do. Your actions will speak louder than any sugar coated words."

"This distrust, it stems from what happened in the past. Danny, humans are naturally social creatures. Can't you see you're only hurting yourself by cutting yourself from the world? Do you intend to live without anyone touching you ever again?"

He felt anger burn through him again. What right did she have to assume he would be better off with the others? She hadn't gone through what he had! He still felt their hands ghosting over his skin, violating him, some cutting him open, setting him on fire and worst of all electrocuting him. Touching meant pain and he didn't want it so why did they have to keep being so incessant? Despite this she looked genuinely concerned and like Megan, didn't come close, and kept a respectable space between them. She was not trying to be domineering, he realised, she was just trying to help. The concept seemed so foreign and so out of place in his life he didn't know how to respond except to let out the repressed frustration.

"Why are you being so nice?!"

"We are heroes, Danny. We want to help you not harm you."

"… I don't like being touched because it means pain. It doesn't matter if you don't want to harm me, it'll hurt anyway. You'll leave me as well, just like everyone else. No one saved me. Not even my 'best friends' who I thought had my back, not my parents, and definitely not any of you 'heroes'. I tried to be good but no good deed goes unpunished. There are you happy? Have you got sufficient understanding of my mental processes? Then leave."

Canary sighed. Once again the teen had missed the point of the entire session. She didn't want to know his mental process, she already knew it, and more. What she wanted was for him to open up, to let himself hope again, to allow others in.

"That wasn't the point Danny. I want you to understand that there is good in the world. Just ask yourself is it better to risk the pain and try for happiness or are you going to remain in the bitter cold place you're in? I had to ask myself that question once and I'm happy that I took the risk."

With that the session had ended and Danny was left alone once more with nothing but his machines. He pulled up a picture of Jazz on the computer and stared at the smiling face of his late sister. She would be disgusted at what he had become. She would know what to do. She was the one who guided him and helped him up when he fell. She wasn't here anymore. He sobbed into his arms.

* * *

It had been a while since Danny had moved into the Hall. The heroes knew of him as the vague figure that was put on house arrest but nothing more. The older members including Robin, Kid-Flash and Megan had talked to him the most but even then the teen didn't really open up. He sat with them during meals but nothing more and he spoke less than Batman. Most of the time he spent was in his room which was why it was a surprise that he was out currently.

"We need all hands on deck. Superboy I need you to go find as many children under the age of 5, trapped or otherwise lost, into one of the schools."

"I'm on it too," Wally said as he sped away.

Danny looked at the holographic screens with a frown. The adults had gone missing. It reminded him of the time in Amity when Young Blood took over. It was only out of curiosity that he had come out but now he wanted to help. Children were innocent, and while they had the potential to be cruel, most had not yet been tainted by age. He was uncomfortable leaving people who didn't deserve it unprotected and children took of the short list of people he thought actually deserved help. He would have left the team to take care of it if it weren't for the sudden elation from being able to feel his core.

"Megan, I need to go with you," Danny said shocking the Martian.

"Are you sure Danny, you haven't been out in a while."

"Don't sugar coat it. I haven't been out in nearly a year. I'm doing this because I can feel my ghost core."

"Ghost core?"

"…I used to be… a hero like you," he finally admitted through gritted teeth. "You should know my alias as Phantom but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I can finally feel it again meaning I want to fulfil my ghostly obsession to protect. It harms me if I don't comply."

"Then he will go," Kaldur said as he placed a hand on Megan's shoulder.

Danny nodded with a small frown but otherwise didn't question the team leader. Oddly enough he felt at peace with Kaldur and it was because the Atlantean had not really done anything other than keep his space. When the Atlantean talked to him it was out of necessity and he didn't get too close but didn't show any hostility either. Danny appreciated that, at least a lot more than Wally's uncomfortable familiarity with him. On the note with uncomfortable familiarity was the den-mother Captain Marvel, who seemed to always find a way to intrigue Danny.

His thoughts moved to his task at hand as he moved out to take care of the children. He allowed a rare smile when the rings of light glowed around his body and he was able to call forth his ghostly ego. For the first time in years he felt a part of himself return, like he had regained a lost limb. Danny bought the children in and left just as quickly, not keen on making small talk with any of them. While he was helping, he wasn't a hero anymore. He wasn't going to pretend like they needed him, that it was his obligation to help, or that he should put on a faux-caring nature just to look the part.

He went back to the base only to find out that Captain Marvel was actually a kid named Billy Batson. It shocked Danny but it also helped explain why the superhero had always talked to him like there was nothing wrong with him. He was just a naïve kid, unawares to the ways of the world, to the true horror of man-kind. It instantly made him feel bad for the way he acted to him. While humanity was beyond redemption, it was children that remained uncorrupted for the brief years they were given that respite. It made him feel protective again. He didn't want the Captain to truly see humanity, he even liked the genuine boy-scout attitude, and for all the fun he poked at other supers playing hero, he would not do the same to Billy.

This didn't mean Danny got involved in the fight with Klarion. He stayed away from demons. That was a general rule he abided by and Klarion the Witch Boy was the cream of the crop, the lord of chaos, and it was unwise for a ghost to get involved. He was susceptible to magic and it had dire effects on him. He could not risk it. In spite of his disappearance during the fight the team did not blame him or ask him why.

"I didn't know you were a ghost!" Billy exclaimed.

"A lot of people don't. They don't believe me," Danny replied. "Shouldn't you be in your other form?"

"Isn't it cool? We both have two forms. It really helps keep the lives separate you know? But it seems the League figured out. I don't want them to treat me like a kid."

Danny raised a brow. Captain Marvel- no, Billy Batson, was too pure. He had made it clear so many times that he didn't want the hero around and he always came back with a genuine dazzling smile. It reminded him of Megan's and Danny liked her. These two weren't fake. They were sincerely pure people. Still, now that he knew Captain Marvel was just a 10 year old boy, he didn't feel right being as mean as he was before. He hoped that Billy would be able to retain this level of pureness in his old age.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you," Danny apologised.

"You're only saying that because you know my age now," Billy grumbled.

"Yes it is because of your age. I don't like adults very much… they're usually insincere with their emotions. I've been rude to you before and you still have a heart of gold. Don't let the world corrupt you."

Billy blinked before tilting his head in confusion. He had no clue what the older teen was spouting. When he first met Danny as the den-mother he had seen in him the same face as many people he knew out in the streets and in foster homes. He was angry, and bitter with the world. Billy had nearly found himself down that path as well, being carted from one home to another for a year before he lived out in the streets. It had been no place for a 8 year old but he had got his powers and he had found Uncle Dudley and he knew that there was good. He wanted to prove that to Danny like he had to his friend Scott and most of the people he came by in the streets. One act of kindness, the true form of heroism, and he was sure it would brighten up the world. The moment he saw Danny, he knew that his one act of kindness was to keep the lonely teen company.

"But you've let the world bring you down."

It was Danny's turn to look bewildered. He had always assumed children knew nothing of what they spoke of. They were small, naïve, didn't know enough but one look in Billy's eyes and he saw wisdom incomparable to grown adults, aged through years of experience.

"I saw a lot of kids out in the streets lose hope to you know. I nearly did too but there are always people out there that are good."

"You must've been mistaken," Danny retorted. "There's always an agenda. There's always something they want behind that smile."

"I used to think that too. I went to five different foster homes and they all treated me like trash. I thought I could live out on my own but even I need someone to love. My Uncle, he took me in without a second thought and even though he's poor he never asked for anything in return."

His world paused. Was Billy right? Had he just given up hope too soon? There were people out there with good in them. No one was perfect but there was still some good in their hearts. He slumped on the couch now eye level with the boy who resembled him so very much. He didn't feel angry anymore. The bitterness that came with human contact wasn't there. Billy was coming closer and he didn't feel the urge to flinch away or relive the horrid experiences he went through. There was so much genuine warmth radiating from the boy that he almost felt at peace for once in his life. When small arms reached out for a hug he didn't remember those phantom touches, the violation, instead he felt warmth.

"I guess I can risk it for you," he said with a small smile.

He hugged someone for the first time in years.

* * *

There was still so much doubt, so much confusion and so much fear… but now there was warmth and comfort as well. First Megan had proven to him that someone could sincerely want to help others with no strings attached and then Captain Marvel had proved to him that there was good in people. He tried being more civil to the team and especially to the new resident hero in the cave. Zatanna had just lost her father to Nabu and Danny was desperately trying to be civil. Her father obviously cared for her to give up his life for her. _There is good in people._ He reminded himself every day when he saw her.

He had even tried to be nice to Wally and Robin when they talked to him. Wally never seemed put off by his angry remarks and neither did Robin but they beamed like it was early Christmas simply because he wasn't being rude. The no-touch policy still stood though. Danny could deal with Captain Marvel hanging around him, but that was because he was really a 10 year old kid. He just didn't have it in him to trust anyone who generally resembled a mature age and Robin seemed to have been out of that range which made it easier for Danny to talk to him.

"Dude that's way too much maple syrup," Robin laughed.

"I like it," Danny grunted as he poured some more in an act of defiance.

"As long as you don't use up the whole bottle," Megan chuckled.

Despite his broody exterior the team came to find that Danny had a sweet tooth. He generally ate savoury foods in normal portions but anything with sugar in it went down in bucket loads. Somehow he still managed to remain scrawny.

"Don't use it all," Superboy grunted as he snatched the bottle with a scowl.

The clone and the ghost did not get along. The team found it odd how similar they were and yet how much they seemed to dislike each other despite it. Together it looked like Danny was the skinny twin brother, same scowl, same face structure, and yet they were completely different.

"Keep your distance rip-off," Danny growled back.

"What'd you call me?!"

"Rip-off! Are you deaf as well? What didn't get daddy's super-hearing?"

He had expected a fight but he hadn't expected Superboy to get up, ball his fists and leave. It made Danny feel even more like a complete ass-hole. The disappointed looks from the team didn't help him feel any better. Maybe a year ago he wouldn't have blinked an eye at a comment like that but now was different. He had known Superboy's sore spot and he practically ripped it open. He had acted just like the people who had harmed him but hadn't he always acted like this? He was rude, he poked at peoples weaknesses, he generally ignored and was abrasive to anyone he met and he never felt guilt over it. If people were angry about it he wouldn't bat an eye because they were the ones in fault. They were the ones following faux conventions of respectful words and kind gestures and he was the one telling the truth. Openly showing how ugly he was while they hid their revulsive nature… but it hurt now. It hurt to be bad.

"I'm not hungry."

He stormed into his room and work space before tinkering on a ghost weapon. He had already fitted the Justice League and Young Justice with working ghost-shields and he moved onto ghost weapons. It helped him take his mind off other things. Work was good, he had equations and jargon to think of in space of _other_ things.

"You want to talk about it?"

It was Canary again. She always came and forced something out of him, took away the escapism the small sanctity of his lab provided him. She ripped him from this other world he was in and pulled him back to his harsh reality and he had learnt to give into her. Unlike his other experiences with shrinks she only wanted to help him and that made her all the more hard to shrug off. Danny learnt to simply tell her his thoughts and get it over with.

"Life is pain, living is pain and that's nothing new… but I felt bad again for how I acted."

"That's because you're growing Danny. You're feeling empathy again."

"Look I don't need counselling ok. I already know why I feel this way. I feel this way because I realise there's good in everybody. They aren't just monsters I can hate anymore. I used to say horrible things to people, disregard their feelings because I believed that deep down inside they were all rotten. I don't see it that way anymore but I still say horrible things."

"It's good that you understand it now. That's progress but it isn't just my job to tell you what you've done wrong. It's to help you overcome it."

Danny found a familiar frustration find its way into his emotions. It wasn't anger anymore it was just a hopeless sense of frustration. He used to think everyone else was monsters but he had never confronted just how much of a monster he was. It was a much harder fact to swallow.

"What would you have me do?" he finally asked with a despondent sigh.

"Go talk to Superboy, apologise to him, tell him what you were thinking and fix your mistakes."

Danny nodded. "Ok."

Canary watched proudly as the boy got up to fix his mistakes. He had come far from the boy who spoke to no one other than to yell or curse profanities to someone who was genuinely beginning to understand their mistakes. It took a greater deal of character to accept your own faults than to find faults in others.

Meanwhile Danny made his way to Superboy's room. He knocked twice before the door opened to reveal a less than happy Kryptonian.

"What do you want?" he grunted.

"I'm sorry," he blurted before he composed himself again. "I'm sorry," he said, this time slower. "What I said to you was uncalled for and I realise I've been a nasty person but what I said just then was beyond the usual level of assholery so I wanted to say-"

"You're forgiven"

"…what?"

"You're forgiven or has death made you deaf?"

Danny snorted at the role reversal despite the seriousness of the situation. Superboy was cracking a joke?

"I know anger can be uncontrollable and I've said some things I regret myself," Superboy admitted.

"Thank you"

Danny left with that but once again he was reminded that there was good in people, even in people who didn't seem like it.

* * *

It started off as one act of kindness. He would help somebody with something, compliment them as honestly as he could, and try in general to bring a smile on someone's face. It was harder than it seemed but then again turning a rotten fruit back to its ripeness was just as impossible. He would always mess up somehow. His favours were always disastrous, his compliments dry and baritone, and his jokes more snarky than hilarious. With how bad he was messing up Danny had expected the team to hate him all the more for it but it turned out quite the opposite. They seemed to warm up to him even more.

"I can polish those for you," Danny offered Artemis.

"Ha ha… please don't," she laughed nervously.

"You're probably right I did accidently set of the explosion arrow last time," he replied with a small frown. "Anything else I can help with?"

Wally ran up to the raven haired teen before snatching a few snacks from the counter.

"Look Danny, I know you're just trying to help but you really don't have to," he said with a mouthful.

"But you probably should go to the briefing room. Batman wants to speak to you."

Danny turned to Robin and nodded. His face rested in its normal scowl but he it was hard to un-furrow his permanently furrowed brows from their default position. He just hoped he hadn't come off as rude again. They were just trying to help and they always kept their distance like he wanted to. They had good in them and he was trying to find the good in himself as well. Batman was the person who allowed him this opportunity, whether it was his intention or not. It didn't matter to Danny because he owed that hero a great deal for taking him out of Arkham. He made his way to the room only to be met with the ever unchanging Dark Knight.

"You called?"

"Yes I have come to inform you of your release."

"Release?"

The Dark Knight pulled up a few screen shots of his transformation into Danny Phantom. Danny frowned in confusion before he started putting two and two together.

"We have sufficient proof now that you are in fact Danny Phantom. As far as claims go you are free to take your treatment under your parents to court and have all allegations of murder receded. If I am correct in my presumption you were not in control when you killed them."

Danny stared blankly at the hero feeling the sudden sting of disassociation. No one had bought up his parents in years and for good reason. No one was comfortable recognising the fact that he had substantial blood on his hands. He had preferred it that way. Bringing up Maddie and Jack Fenton burned his heart. He remembered both the good and the bad times. He wanted so badly to go back to before they found out his identity, before Jazz had died and before his friends left. But they had done something unforgivable to him. They had tried to rip his ghost half away no matter how much pain it caused him. They had betrayed him.

"… I don't know what to say. You believe me?"

"Yes."

Danny slumped onto the wall before getting his bearings again. He had screamed at the court, had begged for someone, anyone, to listen to him. He hadn't killed them because he was crazy but rather his core had over loaded and went on a protective mode. He had lost control of himself. He hadn't meant it and yet the sneers of parent-murderer had stuck with him like a curse over his head for years. To finally have someone believe him elevated a burden in his heart.

"I want to get a fair trial again"

"Then will you also file allegations against these men?"

The pictures of the two care-takers from Arkham flashed on the screen, sending a surge of anger through him. Those vile feelings resurfaced. Prison? No they didn't deserve that. He would torture and kill them himself. They would beg for forgiveness under him before he took their lives and violated them like they had him.

"No, they are beyond the system," he growled.

"No one is beyond the system," Batman replied with a frown. "We bring people to justice, we do not dish out our own brand of it."

"Do you know what they did to me every day?!" Danny screamed, tears pricking his eyes.

"I do," the hero said, voice softer than he had ever heard it before as he placed a hand on Danny's shoulders.

"Don't. Touch. Me."

"You can't live with hate like this. I understand your need for vengeance but murder is not the answer."

Danny couldn't believe the gall of Batman. How could the man speak as if he understood? Had he been the one raped for months on end? Treated like nothing but a toy to be used and thrown away? Had he been the one violated when he was at the most vulnerable in his life?

"Don't pretend like you know! Do you know what it feels like to be used like that?! I cried out for help every day and no one saved me! Not you or any of those heroes!"

With his screaming done Danny stormed out of the room, walked past a worried looking team and slammed his door shut. He couldn't feel his core anymore. It was lost to him again and he hated it. In his frustration he shoved his papers of the table and flipped the desk. They had violated him, hurt him, destroyed him in ways even his parents hadn't managed to and they were going to get away with it by going to _jail_? That made no fucking sense! Jail did not even compare to the pain they had caused him.

* * *

Robin felt angry. It was a righteous indignation. Over the year he had become acquainted with the half-ghost boy he had grown somewhat attached. He had dealt with silent anger long enough to see past it. One did not come to love Batman without being able to overlook brooding habits in others.

It came as a surprise when he found out his adopted father had so much vested interest in Danny's case. After having the boy live in the cave Robin too looked into Danny's case. He came to realise that often times tragedy could break even the kindest of people into ruthless individuals. He was angry at Danny's parents for breaking their sacred trust as care-givers and even more so at the people who had so ruthlessly violated him when he was grieving his loss. It put into perspective why the older teen disliked physical contact, why he became reclusive despite the hidden longing for relationships, and especially his paranoid distrust of everyone around him. Of course that distrust didn't seem to extend to children which he found himself, despite his irritation, being categorised into alongside Captain Marvel.

"Did you have to break it to him so tactlessly?" he asked with concern.

"You need to keep an eye on him," was Bruce's reply.

"Why, because he's rightfully angry?"

"No, because he's dangerously angry. We need to stop him before he does something he'll regret."

"Killing them will be a blessing," Robing grunted.

"We both know murder isn't the answer," Bruce replied.

"…You're right," Dick sighed. "It's just… how can he not be angry? If I were him I would want to kill them too."

"It's hard but we all need boundaries we can't cross. Right now he needs someone who can help him."

Dick nodded, understanding the memo. He walked over to Danny's room and entered after knocking. The older teen was sitting on his bed, face buried in his hands and hair dishevelled like a birds nest. All in all the room and him looked like a complete mess. He walked over to the bed and sat a comfortable distance away from the distraught teen.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"You sound like Canary," he grunted back, face slowly coming out of his hands. "No I don't want to talk about it. No one will understand. I'm not the bad guy here, they are, and they should pay."

"No one is saying you're the bad guy here Danny. I doubt I'd be merciful if I was in your situation but this isn't about being merciful. You have every right to hate them but you shouldn't stoop down to their level. Two wrongs don't necessarily right a wrong."

"So you're saying I should just up and forgive them?" Danny snorted unamused.

"No, I'm saying you should be angry but you shouldn't destroy yourself for them. Don't let them have the last laugh by stooping to their level. When my parents… were murdered I had the chance to kill the people who killed them"

"-Let me guess, you didn't."

"I didn't," Robin nodded. "But I still want to kill them even to this day. It would be satisfying but what more would it do? I'd have become just like them and that would mean I'd have destroyed myself for them and that isn't worth it."

Danny contemplated Robin's words and heaved a sigh as he craned his neck backwards. Robin was right. He was trying to be different, to be above the uncaring, bitter person he was before. Could he throw away all that progress for the people who hurt him?

"What is it with me and getting told off by children?" he laughed.

"Hey I'm not a kid and Billy has the Wisdom of Solomon mind you," Robin laughed.

"… You're right though. I've lost track of who I was before everything went wrong. I let my experience determine my character rather than staying true to myself. The more I do this the more I can't access my core. I guess it's time to move forward."

"That's the spirit," Robin said with a chipper voice. "Now how about we go eat? Megan's made some apple-pie and we need to race for it before Wally gets to it."

"Apple pie!"

Robin watched as the teen practically disappeared in a gust of wind. He found a smile coming onto his face as he ran as well. He really did want that apple-pie."

-End-

This story was written for the lols. I needed a healthy way to release some angst and fanfiction was perfect for it. Sorry if the rape was too graphic but I wanted to hit some feels. I also characterised Danny so he wasn't an angle like most angst-fics portray him as. I just assumed that if you had experiences like those you wouldn't want to be a hero anymore.

If you want to read some more Danny Phantom in the DC universe stories go check out my other fics Ghosts and Heroes and Heroes. Ghosts and Heroes is also full of angst but Heroes is a compilation of one-shots where Danny meets a different hero in every chapter. Heroes is like a fluffy equivalent to my imagination if Danny Phantom was actually part of the DC universe.

Anyway… thoughts?


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